Punch-press unloader



June 30, 1925. 1,543,823

H.BUSCHER PUNCH PRES S UNLOADER Filed July 16. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 vwamtoz I WWW HEN/T) Bus CHER.

June 30, 1925 H. BUSCHER PUNCH PRESS UNLOADER Filed July 16. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ywamtoz HEN/T YDUSCHER June 30, 19 25.

1,543,823 H. BUSCHER PUNCH PRESS UNL/OADER Filed y 16. 1924 s Sheets-Sheet s gvwemtoz \HENRYBUSCHER.

. in Punch-Press Unloaders,

i an operator can strip the press.

Patented June 30, 1925.

HENRY IBU'SCHER, OF WEST HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

PUNCH-PRESS UNLOADEB.

Application filed July 18, 1924. Serial No. 728,271.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY BUSGHER,- a citizen of the Republic of Germany, and a resident of West Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates-to means for automatically removing work pieces from forming machines. While not limited thereto, the particular device shown is adapted for stripping pressed metal collapsible tubes from one of the die members of a punch In the manufacture of. collapsible tubes such as those used for tooth paste, oil paints and similar plastic substances, the'tubes are frequentl made of soft metal such as white metal an are pressed from disc-like blanks by means of suitable co-operating die members. On the up stroke of the press, the formed tube is carried away from the lower die member and an arm which supports the upper die member swings outwardly so that ressed tube from the upper die member by hand. a The punch presses on which this work is done are provided with one revolution clutches and the operator is supposed to trip the clutch each time a tube is pressed so that he can strip the same from the upper die member while the latter is stationary. However, the operators on these presses are frequently paid on a piece-work basis, and to increase their daily outpoot after they have acquired skill,

they frequently dispense with the operation of the one revolutlon cluch andv strip the pressed tube from the die member while the punch press is still running. The machines are usually so arranged that there is a dwell after the upper die is lifted and swung outward. ThlS gives a short period in which a skilled operator can remove the formed tube from the machine, provided the press is not running at too high a speed. At best this is a dangerous operation and even skilled operators loose their fingers occasionally and sometimes the entire hand.

My invention aims to provide means whereby pressed articles can be automatically stripped from the die member and permits running the presses at a much higher speed without hazard to those in charge of the presses. Where the work is stripped from the presses by hand, of course one front elevation of a operator is required for each press. With the nnproved unloader herein shown, there is no necessity of having an operator for the The only time the services of an or other causes. Hence one operator can oversee the work of a great number of machines, the blank from which the work is pressed being automatically fed to the dies by any suitable form of feed mechanism.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic known type of punch press having my improved unloader attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 in full line showing the upper die member of the press swung outwardly in which position the work is automatically unloaded from the press and in dotted lines showing the upper die member" swung to punching position;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of unloader detached from the shown in its initial position;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the part shown in Flg. 3 as viewed from the right-hand side of said figure;

Fig. 5 is a top plan of the parts shown in Fig. 4 the swinging arm of the press my improved machine and being indicated in broken lines;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the unloader in the expanded position which it assumes. when the tube is stripped from the upperdie member;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the unloader viewed from the right-hand side of Fig. 6;-

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the lower end of the unloader;

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on line 99 of Fig. 6 illustrating the work engaging jaws of the unloader in their open positlon;

Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view of one ofthe stripping jaws;

Fig. 11 is a detail of a detachable punch engaging member carried by the stripping aws.

1 Referring particularly to the drawings, 10 and 12 represent side frame members of a punch press of known design formed with suitable guides for a cross-head 1 which is reciprocated by cranks 16 connected by a pitman 18 with the cross-head. The cranks 16 are formedon a shaft 20 which is driven.

bythe bull wheel 22 through a suitable foot controlled one revolution clutch 24 of known .design. The press is provided with the usual bed 26 on which is mounted "a die block 28 and a die30. The reciprocating cross-head 14 carries an arm 32-which is best shown in Fig. 2 and which: ispivoted to the shaft34 and arranged to swing from an inner punching position shown by brokenlines in Fig. 2

- to anouter dischargin -'position shown in die forms the blank of metal full lines; The'arm 32 asa boss 34' on the free end thereof to which is secured a punchv 36 adapted to co-operate with the die 30. In

" the usual operation of punch presses-of the placedin the die to the desired s ape. On

' the backward or up stroke the arm 32 swings outwardly to such a position that the operator can grasp the work whichis. carried up by the punch and can remove the same man uall a improved unloader is so arranged that as t epunch moves upwardly, and swings 6 out, the work is automatically, stripped therefrom, hence the ress can runat a high rate of speed wit outfbeing trippedat each revolution and without da g to lop-v erators. p a My 'mproved unloader includesabracket 38 which is secured by bolts 40 to the punch carrying arm 32. This bracket is iormed with a pair of bosses 42in which are secured depending rods 44 which form guideS fOr; a

vertically movable member 46 which is formed with elongated hubs 48 whichen-- circle the rods 44. Atftheir lowerends, the

. ide rods 44 are held in spacedrelationship ya small casting 50 whichal'so serves to I support the 'fixed cams! 52, thes e being se- 'oured to the member 50 by *flathead screws 54. This member 50 is adjustably secured to rods 44 and set screws 51so that the set position of the" cams can be varied to suit work of diiferent lengths." Adjacent to the. .bosses 42 of the supporting bracket, the rods 44 carry collars 45 which are'adjusjtablyf se cured thereto by suitable set screws 47. as shown. These collars? limit the upward. movement of the member 46 and are adapted to be set to accommodate the unloader for operating on workpieces of different lengths. The movable member '46 isfree to slide up and down on the guides44 and springs 56 aresecured' at their lower ends w studs 60 carried by said member 46 and at their upper ends to studs 62 projecting from the V bosses 42 of the bracket 38. A lazy-tongs 64 is connected at one end by means of a stud 66 to the, bracket 38 and at the other end by means ofa stud 68,to theimember 46. At 3 the upper endv of the lazy-tongs-is provided an. arm or horn 71 which is adapted to strike a-cam 72 carried b a fixed bracket 74 secured to the 'crossbo ster of the punch press; I The cam 72 is so she and positione'dth at when the -cross-he of the punch pressm'oves up and'the arm 32 swin outwardly, thehorn or arm 71 will stri e said .cam 72. and extend or expand the lazytongs. This results in moving the member 46 down along the. "guide rods against the action of the springsetil Gmppi 'g'jaWsfiO, .70 are pivoted at 72, 72 -to the-underside of the member 46,'and are normally drawntqgether by riieans of a tensionsprlng74, tlie'ends of which are pressed through; pinsj76 depending from the jaws. Each aw carries a bushing member 78 which is secured in place by screws 80. Each jaw 7 O is provided withan extended arm 82 and a roller 84 pivotally mounted therein. These rollers are adapted to co-act with the cam members 52 secured to the member 50 to expand the jaws 70. i

To prevent transverse strain on the laz to 5 members 64 when the extended end 1 stri s the cam 72, I provide a guide arm 86 which issecur'ed by screws 88 to the bracket 38. This arm is so shaped and positioned that it does not interfere with the cam 72 and is arranged to take the thrust as the unloader'assemblage is swung around the fixed cam-7 2 in operation.

, Assuming. atthe'start .t-hat thepunch supportingarm 32 is at its highest position and swung inwardly so that the punch 36 carried thereby is in axial alignment with the die 30'secured to the bed of the press, .the end 71 ofthe lazy-tongs will be free --of the cam 72am in its collapsed position as. shown in Figf3 with the jaws embracing the punch.--; kAt this time the rollers 84 are clear of-the'cam 52, hence the spring 74 holds the bushings 78 in close contact with thecylindrical surface of the punch. As the punch moves down and strikes the disc-like blank in the die 30 the metal thereof will flow upwardly around the cylindricalpunch'36 and in the case illus- 'tratedl formga collapsible tube 90 on the punch. As the cross-head 14 moves up the arm32 will swing outwardly approximately to the full line position shown in Fig. 2

and-" n so' doing,-\the' ho rn 71 of the laz tongs 'strikes the cam 72 and expands t e latter as shown in Fig. 6 thus moving the member 546 downward and because of the engagement'of the jaws 70 with the tube punch. The lower part of each portion 78 is rounded-01f as at 94 so that as the metal flows upward along the punch in the .forming operation, there will be no interexerted by the spring 74 will cause the jaws to grasp the tube with a slight pressure after the jaws have passed beyond the end of the punch 36. Toward the end of the downward stroke of the jaws 70, however, the rollers 84 strike the inclined surfaces of the cams 52 which results in separatin'g the jaws as shown in Fig. 9 so as to release the tube 90 and permit it to fall into a suitable receptacle or into a discharge chute leading to a suitable storage receptacle.

As the arm 32 swings inward toward the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2 the horn 71 of the lazy-tongs is swung clear of the cam 7 2 and thus permits the springs 56 to collapse the lazy-tongs and slide the member 46 and the jaws 76 carried thereby from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the upper position shown in Fig. 3 ready for another cycle of operation. As the punch 36 moves down again the above described cycle will be repeated and so on as long as the cross-head 14 of the press is reciprocated.

The device shown is of simple construction and permits the presses to be run at a higher speed than heretofore and does away with the necessity of having a separate operator for each individual press. The design is such that the same unloading mechanism can be used on presses making collapsible tubes or similar articles of different diameters, it merely being necessary when changing from one size of work to another to fit bushings 78 of the corresponding size to the jaws 70.

The unloader while not limited thereto is well adapted for handling articles made of soft metal such as white metal, lead and similar materials. Articles made of such soft metals present problems not encountered in the handling of stiffer materials such as sheet steel, copper, tin and so forth, which are not so apt to be bent or damaged when engaged by moving parts.

The unloader described is capable of embracing the soft metal tube or other article with a gentle pressure without denting it and is also adapted to push against the thin edge of a tube or the like without damaging or altering the shape thereof I 'llumgh I have described with great particularity a specific embodiment of the invention, it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto as various modifications and substitution of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1 In a punch press having a reciprocable swinging arm carrying a punch, a device arranged to partake of the swinging movement of the punch to strip the work "from said punch on the backward andoutward stroke thereof.

2. In a punch press having a reciprocable swinging arm carrying a punch, an unloader including a mem er embracing the work on the punch and means for moving the latter longitudinally of the punch to strip the work therefrom.

3. An unloader for punch presses including a reciproca-ble swinging arm carrying a punch, guide members carried by sa1d arm, a member slidable on the latter members, jaws carried by said member and means for moving the latter to strip the work from the punch.

4. In a punch press having a reciprocable swingin' arm carrying a punch, an unloading mec anism supported by said swinging arm including jaws adapted to embrace the .work carried by the punch, means for moving said jaws longitudinally of the punch, supports and guiding means for said jaws and means for separating said jaws so as to release their grip on the work.

5. In combination with a punch press having a reciprocating portion carrying an arm adapted to be swung into and out of alignment with a forming die, an unloading mechanism carried by sa1d arm including a jaw supporting member, means for moving the latter in the direction'of the length 0 the punch as the arm is swung out of alignment with the forming die, work engaging 'jaws carried by said member and means for releasing the work from the grip of said aws.

6. In a punch press, an unloading device adapted to strip work from the punch including work engaging jaws, means for moving the latter longitudinally of the punch and means for releasing the,work from the grip of said jaws.

7. In a punch press havin a reciprocating punch, an unloading device including a pair of jaws adapted to embrace the work on the punch, means for moving said jaws longitudinally of the punch, yielding means tending to hold the jaws in engagement with the work and means for separating said jaws to release the work therefrom. a

8. A punch press unloader including jaws arranged to embrace the work, means for moving said jaws longitudinally of the punch and means for releasing the work nal movement.

I tubes of soft metal including a laterally and longitudinally movable punch and means movable longitudinally of the punch for automatically removing such a tube therefrom.

11. A punch press for making collapsible tubes of soft metal including a laterall swinging arm carrying a punch in combl- 20 nation with meansarranged to artake of the swinging movement of sai arm and adapted to engage the rear end of the punch during the operation thereof and movable along the punch .on the backward move- 2 ment of the latter to strip the work therefrom. i l I v v 12. A unch press for making a tubular article 0 soft metal in combination with an unloader adapted to embrace the outside of such tubular article and engage the end a thereof so as to push it from the press.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

HENRY YBUSCHERQ 

